CHAPTER 3

Planning Technical Activities

▹ If managing an
organization is to be
pursued vigorously, 2

planning will constitute

the most important
activity.
Nature Of Planning
▹ A plan, which is the
output of planning,
provides a methodical 4

way of achieving desired

results.
Planning Defined
▹ According to Nickles
“The management function
that involves anticipating
future trends and 6

determining the best

strategies and tactics to
achieve organizational
objectives”
▹ According to Aldag and
Stearns
“The selection and
sequential ordering of tasks 7

required to achieve an
organizational goal”
▹ According to Cole and
Hamilton
“Deciding what will be done,
who will do it, where, when, 8

and how it will be done, and

the standards to which it will
be done”
Planning At Various
Management Level
1. Top Management Level – strategic planning
2. Middle Management Level- intermediate planning
3. Lower Management Level -operational planning. 10
Strategic Planning
Refers to the process of determining the major
goals of the organization and the policies and
strategies for obtaining and using resources to 11
achieve those goals.
Intermediate planning
refers to the process of determining the
contributions that subunits can make with
allocated resources , this type of planning is 12
undertaken by middle management.
Operational Planning
refers to the process of determining how
specific tasks can best be accomplished on time
with available resources. 13
 Types of Planning
MANAGEMENT LEVEL PLANNING HORIZON

Chief
Executive officer
Top Management Strategic planning
President (one to ten years )
Vice presidents
General Manger
Division Heads 14

Middle Management Functional Managers Intermediate Planning

Product Line Managers Six months to two years
Department Heads

Lower Management Unit Managers Operational Planning

First Line Supervisors
The Organization and Types of
Planning Undertaken
President/
General Manager

15
Marketing Production Finance Personnel
Manager Manager Manager Manager

Industrial Factory Quality Control

Engineering Manager Manager
The Planning Process
The process of planning
consists of various steps
▹ Setting organizational, divisional, or unit goals
▹ Developing strategies or tactics to reach those
goals 17

▹ Determining resources needed

▹ Setting standard
 “ Setting

organizational,

Goals may be defined as divisional, or unit

the “precise statement of goals

results sought, quantified

in time and magnitude,
where possible

18
Examples of goals,
organizational level
ORGANIZATIONAL LEVEL EXAMPLE OF GOAL

Company To attain a return on

(Buenavista Construction Corporation) investment of 25 %
19

Division To increase the number

(Project Management Division) of projects undertaken by
the company

Unit To increase the

(Personnel Services Unit) number of projects
engineers
 “ Developing

strategies or tactics
A strategy may be defined to reach those
as “a course of action goals
aimed at ensuring that
the organization will
achieve its objectives”

20
 “
A tactic is a short-term
action taken by
management to adjust to
negative internal or
external influences.

21
Example of strategy

The decision of a construction firm’s

management to diversify its business by engaging
also in the trading of construction materials and 22
supplies.
Example of tactics
Hiring of contractual workers to augment the
company’s current workforce
23
Determining resources needed

When a particular sets of strategies or tactics have

be devised, the engineer manager will, then,
determine the human and nonhuman resources 24
required by such strategies or tactics. Even if the
resources requirements are currently available,
they must be specified.
 To illustrate
follows:

▹ A new business unit will be organized to deal with the

buying and selling of construction materials and 25

supplies. The amount of Php 50 million shall be set

aside to finance the activity.

▹ Qualified persons shall be recruited for the purpose.

 “
A standard may be defined
as “a quantitative or
qualitative measuring Setting Standard

device designed to help

monitor the
performances of people,
capital goods, or
processes.”

26
Types of Planning
 Types of Plans

Functional Plans with time Plans with varied

Area Plans horizons frequency of use

Marketing plan Short-range plan

Production Long-range plan

Plan
28
Financial plan Standing Single-use
plan plan
Human
resource plan

policies Procedures rules

Budget Program Project

 Types of Planning

Plans are of different types. They maybe classified

in terms of
29

▹ 1.) Functional Areas

▹ 2.) Time Horizon
▹ 3.) Frequency of use.
Functional Area Plans

Marketing Plan- this is the written document or

blueprint for implementing and controlling an
organization marketing activities related to a 30
particular marketing strategy.
Production Plan- this is a written document that
states the quantity of output a company must
produce in broad terms and by product family.
 Financial Plan- it is a document that
summarizes the current financial situation of the
firm, analyzes financial needs, and recommends
a direction for financial activities. 31

Human resource management plan- it is a

document that indicates the human resource
needs of a company detailed in terms of quantity
and quality and based on the requirements of the
company’s strategic plan.
Plans With Time Horizon
1. Short-range plan- these are plans
intended to cover a period of less than one
year. First-line supervisors are mostly 32
concerned with these plans.
2. Long-range plans- these are plans
covering a time span of more than one
year. These are mostly undertaken by
middle and top management.
Plans According to Frequency
of Use
Plans may be classified as:
1. Standing plans
2. Single-use plans 33
Single-Use Plans
These plans are specifically developed to implement
courses of action that are relatively unique and
unlikely to be repeated. 34

Single-use plans may be further classified as

follows:
1. Budgets
2. Programs
3. projects
1. Budget- according to Weston and Bringham is
a plan which sets forth the projected
expenditure for a certain activity and explains
where the required funds come from.
2. Program- is a single-use plan designed to 35
coordinate a large set of activities.
3. Project- is a single-use plan that is usually
more limited in scope than a program and is
sometimes prepared to support a program.
Parts of the Various
Functional Area Plans
The Engineering manager may be familiar with
Engineering plans, knowing the details from
beginning to end. However, the ever present 36
possibility of moving from one management
level to the next and from one functional area to
another presses the engineer manager to be
familiar as well with other functional area plans.
The Contents of the Marketing
Plan
William Cohen maintains that the following
must be included in the market plan:
1. The executive summary
2. Table of contents 37
3. Situational analysis and target market
4. Marketing objective and goals
5. Marketing strategies
6. Marketing tactics
7. Schedules and budgets
8. Financial data and control
The of production plan
1. The amount of capacity the company must have
2. How many employees are required
3. How much material must be purchased 38
The contents of the financial
plan
1. the analysis of the firm’s current financial
condition as indicated by an analysis of the most
recent statements.
39
2. A sales forecast
3. Capital budget
4. The cash budget
5. A set of pro forma ( or projected) financial
statements
6. The external financing plan
Contents of human resource
plan
1. Personnel requirements of the company
2. Plans for recruitment and selection
3. Training plan 40

4. Retirement plan
Parts of Strategic Plan
1. Company or corporate mission
2. Objective or goals
3. Strategies 41
Making Plan
Effective
Planning may be made successful
if the following are observed:

▹ Recognize the planning barriers

43

▹ Use of aids to planning

The planning barriers, according to
Plunkett and Attner, are as follows:
▹ Manager’s inability to plan
▹ Improper planning process
▹ Lack of commitment to the planning process
44
▹ Improper information
▹ Focusing on the present at the expense of the
future
▹ Too much reliance on the planning department
▹ Concentrating on only the controllable variables
Among the aids to planning that
may be used are:
▹ Gather as much as information as possible

▹ Develop multiple sources of information 45

▹ Involve others in the planning process

THANKS!
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